Fan Art : A Darker Shade Of Magic

This summer, Melsaan made me discover a book that entered directly in my top 10. A Darker Shade of Magic. Think parallel worlds, think enchanted artefacts, think victorian era... And you already have a very interesting situation. Then add engaging characters, bursting with vitality, and you will understand why I love this book so much.

But I am not here to write book reviews, but rather to tell you untiringly about my new artistic experiences.

So, after finishing the two first books, I was kinda messed up by this universe, totally in love, and so I grabbed my pencils and started a Fan Art. And what a Fan Art ! It took me a lot of time, because I really wanted to pay homage to the characters.

But eventually, a few days ago, I finished it ! I am therefore able to reveal it to you...

TA-DAAAAH !

So here are Kell and Lila, the two main characters, forming a rather explosive duet ! I think that drawing fanarts is the most difficult discipli ever, since you know that if you screw this up, you won't just have screwed this up, but you will ALSO have soiled the memory of the characters ! (Me ? Dramatic ? Naaaah) So I really focused on everything, I re-drawed their position 12745 times, made three color trials before actually coloring Kell's hair, I had to make a violent effort to stop myself from shaking like hell when I inked the faces... (Yeah, I was far too emotionally invested in that project ^^' )

Melsaan, on her side, drawed an awesome version of Lila, and it is actually this fanart that made me want to read the book. It's a sketch that would totally deserve a proper inking/coloring, but Melsaan prefers sketching rather than drawing very big, colored artworks.

"Delilah Bard lived by a simple rule : what was worth having, was worth taking"

In my opinion, Melsaan succeded very well in catching Lila's essence. It's a sharp and mischievious character, who, despite her savage look, has big dreams and is ready to fight to acomplish them. I like the aura that emanates from her in the drawing, this defying look ! And, as usual, I'm a huge fan of Melsaan's art.

So here is (for the moment) our humble contribution to the Shades of Magic fandom, that we highly encourage you to discover !